Can she save him?
by kjspirit23
Summary: Abeke didn't know that everything would change that day. She didn't know that she would meet him and that he would need her help just as much as she needed his. AU, this is for Mistystar123 who came up with the prompt
1. Chapter 1

SA Gangs AU

Abeke smiled happily as she skipped out of the store. She had finally found the perfect gift for her sister. It had cost all of her allowance but she was finally able to buy it today. It was a jewel antelope necklace.

Abeke and her sister didn't have the best relationship and she wanted to make sure that Soama knew she cared. Abeke walked down the street focusing on how to get home. She had never been in this part of town, she usually walked home from school on a different path but she had gone on a detour to get Soama's birthday present.

Abeke thought she was pretty close to a familiar street when a boy started following her. Abeke glanced back and quickened her pace a bit. She was considering crossing the street to get away from him when she saw another guy ahead of her just standing there, arms crossed. It almost seemed like he was waiting for her. Abeke shook her head, she was just being paranoid; there was no way this was actually happening. He was probably just waiting for his friend behind her and she just happened to be on the same street.

Abeke kept walking, sure of this explanation and was prepared to keep walking past the boy, but as she did he grabbed her arm. "Hey! Let go of me!" She screamed as she ripped her arm away and started running. She ran as fast as she could, street signs and buildings blurring next to her. She risked a glance behind her and saw that they were chasing her. She quickly turned down an alleyway hoping to lose them but she stopped, heart pounding, as she realized it was a dead end.

She whirled around hoping to get out but it was too late, the boys were already blocking the exit, leering at her. Abeke made a last effort to escape charging at them and at the last minute ducking down and swinging her leg to knock them over but the boy laughed as he jumped and kicked her in the side. Abeke moaned as she went down. "Give us your money and whatever you got from that fancy schmancy store. We saw you leave so don't tell me you don't have anything."

"The watch too." The other boy added. Abeke trembled as she slowly reached for the clasp on her watch and the wallet in her pocket.

"Shane! Let her go!" A new voice announced and Abeke turned to see a blond boy staring at them from the entrance to the alley. The boys standing over Abeke turned.

"Or what?" He dared and his partner just crossed his arms and nodded. Abeke gasped when she heard a low rumbling growl. A large gray dog was stalking up towards them from behind the blond boy. Abeke knew she should feel scared but the dog's presence calmed her. She watched as the dog started barking and running up to Shane and the other boy. The blond boy was also coming up with a wooden baseball bat. The big dog jumped at one of the guys, biting his arm and the blond boy hit Shane with the bat. Abeke quickly joined in, striking the boy like her dad had taught her. The two boys fought back and managed a few hits on the boy trying to save her, but whenever they tried to hit Abeke her rescuer blocked it or motioned at his dog and the dog would attack before they could do anything to Abeke.

After what seemed like forever but was only actually a few minutes, the two boys ran off with the dog chasing them. Abeke sighed with relief, sinking to the ground. The blond boy, panting, sat down beside her. He let out a low whistle and his dog reappeared, slowly walking up to them. He licked the boy's face and surprised Abeke by licking her as well.

"Thank you." She said to the boy. She still couldn't believe what had just happened, but she was glad that this boy had been there to save her. Abeke grabbed her wallet and watch off the ground and slowly put it back on her wrist. She tried not to move too much, her side still hurt from where the boy had kicked her. She winced and the boy was immediately at her side.

"Where does it hurt?" He asked, his voice soft and gentle. Abeke pulled up her shirt and showed him the dark bruise already forming on her skin.

"You know," Abeke started, "You just saved me from those guys and I don't even know your name."

The boy laughed before replying, "You were almost mugged by those guys and you're already getting over it? You're so brave. I'm Conor." He smiled at her and let her shirt fall back down. "You'll be fine, you should probably ice it when you get back home but it should be back to normal in a couple of weeks."

"My name's Abeke." She told him as she looked into his light blue eyes. She gasped, "Are you okay?" She stared in disbelief, not sure how she hadn't seen his black eye before.

"I'll be okay, I get into scrapes like this all the time." He sent her a reassuring smile.

"Oh, so you rescue all the girls then?" Abeke teased and he grinned again before letting the smile fall off his face.

"You should be more careful, we're lucky Shane didn't have everyone with him today." Conor's dog growled at the mention of Shane and Abeke petted him, rubbing her hand across his back trying to calm him. "I'm surprised you're not scared of Briggan. Most people take one look and run."

Abeke just smiled. "But he's so sweet." Briggan turned and licked her face, covering her in slobber. Abeke flinched back away from him before laughing. Briggan gave a happy yip when he saw his friend and the girl smile and laugh again.

"It's not just him they're scared of." Conor tells her quietly as he averts his eyes and stares down at his dog.

Abeke stops smiling and looks back at her rescuer. "What's wrong Conor?" She asked as she reached out and touched his arm.

He looks up at her eyes filled with regret and sadness. "My best friend Rollan and I, we used to be a part of Shane's gang. Rollan has no parents, he was practically raised with them. My family needed money to pay the bills so I joined. I didn't truly realize what I would have to do for it. I left a few weeks later and Rollan wanted to turn his life around so he came with me. All the people here remember when they look at me is that I was part of that gang and I just see the fear in their eyes." A tear leaked out of his eye and traveled down his face and Abeke scooted closer and took his hand.

"That's not what I see when I look at you. I see a guy who wanted to help his family no matter the cost but had the strength to stop hurting people to do it. I see a someone who saved me without even knowing my name. You're strong and brave." Abeke assured him and he heard the truth in her voice.

He smiled at her before standing with Briggan beside him. He offered his hand and Abeke took it, letting him pull her up. "You should go home before Shane comes back. He doesn't take being losing very well."

Abeke nodded before asking the question that had been running through her head the entire time they'd been talking. "Will I see you again?"

"I don't know but I sure hope so." He smiled at her fondly before continuing. "Although hopefully it won't be in these circumstances again." They laughed and he walked her home as they talked the whole way there. Abeke was reluctant to leave when they finally reached her house and knelt to rub the adorable dog. He licked her face before she stood up again.

"Thank you again." She told him with a smile and her face flushed as she made a quick decision. She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. She was happy to see the blush on his face as well.

"Goodbye Abeke, stay safe." He waited with Briggan as she walked up to her front door. When she reached it she turned one last time to wave goodbye and grinned when he waved back. She quickly opened the door and walked inside, shutting the door behind her. She then slid to the floor, sitting down, overwhelmed with all that had happened in the last few hours.

She felt her face heat again as she thought of Conor again. He was cute and kind. Abeke shook herself out of it and got up, joining her family and going back to the way things had been before. But she knew that everything was different now and that she would see Conor again. She just knew it.

**A/N: So... what do you think? I'm not sure if i'm going to continue so let me know if you want me to keep going with this story. Again all credit for the prompt for this goes to Mistystar123. And if I do decide to continue feel free to review or pm me with ideas, i'm still playing with the plot in my head and I'll definitely try to incorporate any ideas you have. Anyways hope you enjoyed. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**A/N: I'm so glad you guys like this so far. The reviews made my day. Again if you have any ideas I would love to hear them. I forgot to mention this but they are teenagers in this story because it fits the plot better. Enjoy :) **

Abeke POV

"But you can't tell anyone what happened. I don't want my dad or Soama to find out that I was almost mugged. I don't want them to worry." Abeke hurried to explain this to her best friend, Meilin as she finished telling her what had happened the day before. Abeke also didn't want her dad to find out so that she was still allowed to walk home after school.

"So was he cute?" Meilin asked eagerly with a knowing smirk and an amused twinkle in her eye. Abeke blushed and ducked her head to hide her face. "I'll take that as a yes." Meilin teased and Abeke playfully slapped her arm.

Conor POV

"And I'll probably never see her again." Conor finished with a sigh as he recounted what happened to him yesterday.

"You should've told her where you live or asked if you guys could hang out again bro." Rollan playfully informed him but Conor just shook his head.

"Why would I want her to see this dump?" He asked. His family had their own house but money had been tight for a while. His dad had lost his job and his mom was working hard to pick up the slack but with Rollan, Conor and his 2 brothers it was hard to keep up.

Since they didn't have a lot of money they hadn't really been taking care of the house. The front door always got stuck and one of the windows was covered with a tarp and duck-tape to hide the empty hole where glass should've been. And those were the best parts of the house.

"Whatever, I happen to love this house." Rollan protested as he jokingly hugged the couch and petted it as if it were his pet.

"Just drop it okay," Conor told him before changing the subject. "So did you feed your pigeon yet?"

"Essix rejects that," Rollan replied as Conor heard a screech from outside.

"She actually stayed today?" Conor asked, surprised. Rollan had taken to putting out stale bread crumbs to feed a falcon that had been flying by lately. The bird seemed to appreciate the food, but never actually interacted with Rollan. Essix (Rollan thought the name sounded cool) always flew away before Rollan could get close.

"Oh yeah, told ya I could befriend her." Rollan proudly declared.

"You haven't fed her yet have you?"

"Nope." Rollan said with a grin as he headed outside.

As much as Conor loved to see Rollan fail over and over when trying to get near the bird, Conor stayed inside, trying to figure out how to get that amazing girl out of his head.

Abeke POV

"Sorry what?" Abeke asked sheepishly when she returned from her thoughts and realized that Meilin had been talking to her.

"Abeke," Meilin groaned.

"I know, I know I'm sorry. I just can't stop thinking about him, it's stupid." Abeke told her. It had been exactly a week and she hadn't seen Conor. She had even gone back to that store and then walked home hoping she would run into him but nothing.

"Okay, let's go." Meilin announced with a smile before turning around and heading towards the part of the city where Abeke had met Conor.

Abeke sighed before following. "I already tried to find him, you know that." Meilin and Abeke walked home from school together as their families lived in the same apartment building, so Meilin had known where Abeke went when she didn't walk home with her.

"I know, how about this. We'll go wander around as long as we can. If we see him, awesome, true love, blah blah blah. If not we go home and you forget about him." Meilin stated matter-of-factly.

Abeke hated the idea that she would have to forget about him if he wasn't there, but she nodded anyway. Meilin was right, she couldn't sit around hoping to see this guy for the rest of her life.

They wandered through the streets and Abeke was glad she didn't have to do it alone this time. She wouldn't admit it but that gang attacking her had really scared her. She had heard the news stories but never thought something like that would ever actually happen to her.

They waited for an hour and a half. Abeke was grateful for Meilin, as her best friend kept talking to her, distracting her from the worry about whether or not Conor would actually show up.

She glanced at her watch again and sighed. She was about to tell Meilin that they could go when she looked up and saw him, standing at the end of the street, staring straight at her with a bright smile on his face.

**A/N: Hope you liked it. So… I have an idea for the next chapter and if any of you know any cheesy pick-up lines that would be great. ;) Thanks for reading.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**A/N: Thanks for the pick-up lines ZarinaSpivey :) I hope you guys enjoy. I know this is Conor/Abeke but I couldn't help throwing in Rollan/Meilin. I know these chapters are kinda short but I basically write it and put it up right away. I'll work on it. Thanks for reading.**

**EDIT: Just realized I had Rollan/Abeke in the author's note instead of Rollan/Meilin... oops sorry if I confused anyone**

"Is that him? Because he is totally hot." Meilin whispered to Abeke, who was now smiling back at him.

"Yoohoo," Meilin waved her hand in front of Abeke's face and Abeke broke eye contact with Conor to look at her friend.

"What do I do?" Abeke asked. She hadn't really thought past wondering whether or not Conor would actually show up. She had no clue what to do now.

"Go talk to him," Meilin laughed as she lightly shoved Abeke towards him.

Abeke started walking before turning back, "I can't just leave you alone, what if you get cornered by that gang?"

Meilin scoffed, "You know I take Karate."

"I know, but I would just be worried about you. Besides, if he can't pass the best friend test any relationship would be doomed. _Doomed_ _I say_." Abeke finished dramatically. Meilin rolled her eyes with a smirk on her face before joining her in walking towards the blond haired boy.

"Hey," Abeke called to Conor as they approached him.

"Hey," he said. "Who's this?" He asked, looking at Meilin.

"Oh, right, this is my best friend Meilin. Meilin, this is Conor."

"Nice to meet you," Conor greeted as he shook her hand.

"You too, I've heard so much about you." Meilin told him and Abeke bumped her shoulder with a pointed look to stop her from continuing. Meilin winked at her. "I was going to window shop so I'll leave you guys to it."

"Meilin," Abeke complained, "I don't want you to be alone."

"I can take care of that," A boy's voice said from behind them. "Hey gorgeous," The boy said as he sidled up to them, looking at Meilin.

Meilin smiled and rolled her eyes. "That's the best ya got?" She teasingly challenged.

"Oh I've got plenty more where that came from," the boy assured her with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

"This is Rollan, he's basically my brother in everything but blood. Rollan, this is Abeke and Meilin." Abeke smiled as Conor introduced them. Rollan grinned at her and winked before turning to Meilin.

"A beautiful name for a beautiful girl." Meilin just raised her eyebrow at him. "Are you google? Cause I just found what I'm looking for." He wiggled his eyebrows up and down and just kept grinning cockily.

Meilin laughed as she sarcastically replied, "Oh yeah, that was _so_ much better."

Abeke went over to stand next to Conor. "He seems fun," she whispered to him honestly.

Conor nodded, "Yeah he is." They both looked on as Rollan continued.

"Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?" He finished with a smirk.

Meilin just shook her head. "Prepare to be schooled." She winked at Abeke who was waiting to see how this verbal battle would play out.

Meilin inched closer to Rollan and looked into his eyes. "Even if there wasn't any gravity I would still fall for you." She told him softly before starting to lean in.

But just when Abeke expected her to kiss him, Meilin pulled away. "Ha, I win." Meilin declared triumphantly, though Abeke didn't miss the blush across her face that she would _definitely_ be interrogating her about later. And teasing, the merciless teasing could now go both ways.

Rollan shook off the dazed expression on his face and laughed, "You're such a tease." He said playfully with a little pout.

"Okay, Conor, Abeke, we'll catch up with you guys later." She started to walk away with Rollan in tow, though he didn't seem to mind much. 'Get his number' Meilin quickly mouthed to Abeke before striding away.

"They make quite the pair," Conor told her with a laugh.

"I'll say," Abeke replied before moving closer to him and slowly grabbing his hand. They both smiled as their fingers interlocked. They fit together perfectly.

**Would anyone be interested in me maybe splitting it with two story lines, one for Conor and Abeke and one for Rollan and Meilin? There would still be plenty of Conor and Abeke, I promise ;) Let me know.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"So, you've saved my life but I know nothing about you," Abeke says as she and; Conor stroll down the street. "Other than that you're cute, of course."

Conor blushes before answering, "You know, my story's actually not that interesting." His insecurities getting the better of him. Why would anyone like her want to know about street scum like him?

"I don't care what it is, as long as it's about you." She reassures him with a soft smile.

"Well, I live with my family and Rollan. You met Briggan." Conor starts.

"Where is Briggan? I would love to see him again, he's so sweet."

"I left him at home today. Though I'm sure he would enjoy seeing you too. He's never taken a liking to someone so quickly before." Conor tells her. He can see why, as he looks at Abeke smiling at him. She was beautiful and brave. He'd never met someone quite like her before.

"Well, next time we hang out you should bring him." Abeke says.

"So there will be a next time?" Conor asks hesitantly.

"Of course, if you want to, I mean." Abeke's smile falls at the thought of finally seeing Conor again only to lose him.

"No, no that's not what I meant. I love spending time with you." Abeke's eyes light up and she leans into him as they continue walking.

"So, you wanted to hear a story?" Conor asks. When Abeke nods he continues, "Well, I actually found Briggan on these very streets. A few years ago, before I joined the gang, I was roaming the streets trying to find something to do. I was walking along when I heard this whimpering. I was curious and had nothing better to do, so I followed the sound. I found a puppy stuck in a box, no food or water. His fur was mangy and he was just lying there. I slowly picked him up, trying not to hurt him. My parents had always warned me not to go near stray animals since we wouldn't know if they bite or not, but I couldn't stop myself. I felt this connection and I knew he wouldn't hurt me. He was so weak that even if he had wanted to he wouldn't have been able to.

"I brought him home with me, giving him water and food scraps. My family took a bit of convincing but they just couldn't turn the poor guy away. It had been two days and he still hadn't moved much other than to eat, drink, or go outside, but then I walked into the room and he got up as if it was the most normal thing in the world, came up to me and licked my hand. We've been best buds ever since."

"That's so sweet," Abeke says when Conor stops talking.

"So, what about you?"

"Well, I do have a cat. She's a tabby with dark spots on her fur. Our meeting's not nearly as interesting as yours and Briggan's, but I love her. She loves to be outdoors, sometimes she's gone for days at a time but she always comes back to me." Abeke tells him. "Ok, your turn. It can be like 20 questions."

Conor laughs, "Okay, what's your favorite color?" They continue to talk and enjoy each other's company, oblivious to the pair of watching eyes behind them.

Spiritanimalsspiritanimalsspiritanimals

"What do you think they're saying?" Meilin asks as she and Rollan follow quietly behind their best friends.

Rollan sighs, wishing the pretty girl next to him would pay attention to him instead. He looks ahead at the two and then back at Meilin. He hadn't really wanted to go with Conor today, but now he was glad he did. "Meilin, let's go do something else."

"Just a little longer, I need blackmail material." Meilin replies with a smirk. Rollan stares at her before stepping in close to her. "What are you doing?" Meilin asks as he stopped an inch away from her.

"You're beautiful," he says quietly as he touches her cheek. He leans in and Meilin leans in too, forgetting that she was going to play hard to get. Just before their lips touched, Rollan stepped back with a smug smile.

"And that is how Rollan does it." Meilin huffs as she realizes that he had pulled the same trick on her that she had on him.

"This is ridiculous." She told him before boldly walking up to him and kissing him before he can do anything. Once he gets over the shock, Rollan kisses back. When they finally break apart for air, they both have goofy smiles on their faces. "That was way more fun than trying to tease each other," Meilin tells him and Rollan just nods, dazed.

* * *

**A/N: Hey guys, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry this is late, writer's block sucks. Thanks for the reviews, they made my day, and kept me fighting to write this chapter. Does anyone have any ideas about Jhi? I have no clue how to stick a panda into this story and I can't think of any other animal to put in Jhi's place.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**A/N: I'm glad you guys liked the last chapter. I finally know where I want this story to go so updates will hopefully be faster. I don't think this story will be too long, but I don't know yet. We'll see :) Thanks for the reviews. Hope you enjoy.**

**Guest: This is a modern AU so there can't be any actual spirit animals as they don't exist here, no matter how much I wish they did ;) So the spirit animals are just their pets or wild animals like Essix. **

**Other Guest: Since Essix is just a gyrfalcon in the books I kept her as the same animal. I had to change Briggan and the rest because people aren't allowed to have animals like that as house pets so it wouldn't work with the story. Thanks for the review.**

"I can't believe you and Meilin pranked your teacher like that," Conor laughed in disbelief.

"It's true, Mr. Tarik gave us detention but it was totally worth it," Abeke told him. She kept smiling as she gathered her courage, "Conor, I know we just met but I really li-" Abeke stops when Conor tenses and steps in front of her. She looks at him as she tries to figure out what's going on.

He turns his head to look at her. "Stay behind me and let me do the talking." He turns back and Abeke gets on her tiptoes, straining to see over Conor's broad shoulders to see what had him so worried. She gasps quietly when she sees one of the guys that had attacked her in the alley.

"What do you want?" Conor almost growls, and Abeke sees his likeness to Briggan in that moment. A loveable sweetheart most of the time that knows how to be strong and fight when needed.

"Is that any way to treat you friends?" Another boy asks as he comes up to them from behind. Conor whirls around, trying to figure out how to keep Abeke safe if it came down to a fight.

"You're not my friends." He told them but they just laughed.

"That's not what you said when you begged us to let you join, just so you could feed your pathetic little family." The first one taunts.

Conor lunges towards him, muscles tense, but Abeke grabs him by the arm. He looks back at her, his anchor, and takes a deep breath. "Again, _what do you want?_"

"Look, we need your help. There's a job, and we could use your distraction expertise. We're not heartless, you'll get paid."

Conor stares at them in disbelief. "You really think I would just drop everything and join you guys again. You're stupider than I thought."

The second boy moves, a knife flashing in his hand as he grabs Conor by the collar of his shirt, his movements a blur. "Let him go!" Abeke says as she tries to knee the boy but the other one stops her and shoves her away.

"Letting you help us is an honor." The boy with the knife told Conor. Conor glared, his brown eyes hardening, and spit in his face. The boy let him go and wiped his face.

"That was a mistake," he quickly slashes his knife and cuts Conor's arm. Abeke struggles to help him but the other boy won't let her move. "We didn't come here to fight. We're here to remind you of how alike we are. Even now you want to fight me. No matter how much you deny it, you did join us. Of your own free will. You _chose_ to help us hurt people and steal their money."

"I'm not like you," Conor protests half-heartedly as he holds his forearm, trying to slow the bleeding.

The boy smirks, knowing he achieved his goal when he hears Conor's wavering voice. "When you remember the truth about who you are, come find us. There really is a job."

He turns and starts to leave when Abeke decides to ignore Conor's instructions. "You're wrong! Conor is nothing like you. You're a wretched little boy only playing at things you don't understand." The boy ignores her, making her angrier. "Face me, coward." She growls.

"Abeke, let them go." Conor tells her, his voice faint. When she hears him, she remembers the cut on his arm. He needed to see a doctor.

"You'll regret that. We're not cowards." The boy warns as he turned and looked at her again, "You better watch your back, next time we see you we won't have mercy. No one insults the Conquerors and gets away with it." With that he turned away, with the other boy following him.

Abeke watches them until they disappear from sight down an alley before she turns to Conor. "Are you okay?" She asks as she gently grabs his arm. She sighed with relief as she saw that the cut wasn't as deep as she had first suspected. "We need to get this bandaged before you lose any more blood."

"What if he was right?" Conor whispers, his mind spinning in confusion as he remembers the things Drake had said. He was telling the truth, it had been his decision to join them. It wasn't like they had forced him to do anything. He had hurt those people.

Abeke looked at him in disbelief. "He wasn't," She states confidently.

"You don't know me, you don't know the things I did with them." He snaps, wishing he could make her understand.

"Ok, I don't know everything about you yet. I want to though." She tells him, hoping he'll see that he wasn't who he thought he was. She knew he was a good person, even if he couldn't see it himself.

Conor laughs humorlessly, "Can't you see? Good girls like you don't hang out with guys like me. I _hurt_people Abeke! Why can't you understand that?" He yells.

"I do understand! Ok, maybe you did join them in the beginning, but you _chose_ to leave! You realized it was wrong and you left them." She reminds him. He just shakes his head, not truly hearing her words.

"You're just a silly little girl." He mutters before looking back up at her. "You need to stay away from me, you deserve better." Conor tells her before turning his back on her, ignoring Abeke's protests as he runs away.

Abeke angrily wipes the tears streaming down her face as she stares after him. _Why couldn't he see that they were wrong about him. He was so much better than he gave himself credit._


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Meilin and Rollan were laughing as they walked hand-in-hand. Meilin was leaning in to kiss Rollan again when she saw Abeke ahead of them. But something was wrong, she was alone and it looked like she was crying. "Come on, Rollan," Meilin tells him as she starts to run towards her friend.

When she reaches her, Abeke just hugs her. "He left." She whispers, her voice was low and filled with sadness. Meilin just holds her, staying silent. She looks over Abeke's shoulder at Rollan, who silently asks _what happened?_

_I don't know_, Meilin mouthed back. "Abeke, are you okay?" She asks gently, not wanting to upset Abeke further. Abeke sniffles and pulls back. She wipes her face before looking at Meilin.

"Sorry, I shouldn't be crying. These two boys from that gang came up-"

Rollan stiffened before interrupting her. "Which ones, do you know?"

Abeke shakes her head. "They didn't say and Conor didn't tell me anything before he ran off."

"What happened?" Rollan asks again, he had to know what happened and if Conor was okay.

"Th-they said they had a job or something that they wanted Conor to help them with and one of the boys kept saying that Conor was just like them, and he believed them. How could he believe them?" She questions Rollan who just sadly shakes his head.

"I knew he struggled with it, but I didn't think it was this bad. I guess I didn't _want_ to see how it was affecting him. He's always felt guilty for his brief stint with the Conquerors, I guess he still hasn't gotten over it."

Abeke suddenly straightens, "Oh my god, I forgot, one of the boys cut Conor with a knife. It wasn't super deep but it was bleeding a lot. We have to find him." Abeke can't believe that she had forgotten about his injury. Now, he was doing who knows what _alone_ with a bleeding arm. She stands tall, now determined to find him and fix everything. She would help him see what she saw.

Rollan recognizes her stance and apologetically stops her. "It's probably best if I look for him alone. The guys won't bother me, and Conor won't run when he sees me." Abeke flinches at the obvious implication that Conor would flee at the sight of her. _It's just because he's scared_, she reminds herself. She sighs and reluctantly agrees.

"Okay, just make sure he gets his arm taken care of." Abeke tells him and he nods. A tight-lipped grin appears on his face and it reminds her of everything that had happened. She hadn't known him long, but he had always had a light-hearted grin. Abeke can't help wishing that they hadn't run into those 2 boys. She and Conor could've kept talking and met up with Rollan and Meilin. They could've laughed together and hung out for the rest of the day, forgetting everything but the happiness they all shared.

But they had, and the reality of it all made her stomach churn. Meilin turns to Rollan and squeezes his hand, "Stay safe," she whispers and kisses him on the cheek. He nods and gives her a gentle smile before leaving to look for Conor. Meilin turns to Abeke and hides her sadness at the state her best friend is in.

"C'mon honey, let's go home." Abeke subconsciously resists at first but Meilin continues. "Rollan will find him," She reassures and Abeke lets Meilin pull her along, away from everything that had happened.

Spiritanimalsspiritanimalsspiritanimals

Rollan relaxes when he finally see Conor ahead of him. He had checked their house then wandered the streets, this had been his last stop, and he had been worried that Conor wouldn't be here and he'd have to face their parents not knowing what happened to him. "Where were you man? I was worried sick," Rollan calls angrily. What Conor did was dangerous, especially if his wound was as bad as Abeke said it was.

Conor doesn't move, he stays sitting on the ground. Rollan rolls his eyes and strides up to him. He crouches beside him and grabs his arm. He sighs with relief when he sees that it isn't as deep as some he himself had had before and that Conor would be okay. It had already scabbed over and within a week or so would be gone.

"Conor?" He asks again and there's still no response. "Dude," He tries again, starting to get annoyed with the way he's acting. "You know you really hurt Abeke." This time there's a response as Conor turns away from him.

"I didn't want to," He tells him softly and Rollan replies as he sits down next to him, leaning against the concrete wall of the building next to them.

"I know you didn't. She said two of the guys offered you a job?"

"Yeah, Drake and Sam. They kept saying that it was only a matter of time before I realized who I truly am and returned to them. _I don't want to._"

"Then don't," Rollan states, not seeing the problem.

"But what if they're right?" Conor asks him.

"They're not," Rollan declares matter-of-factly.

Conor groans in frustration, "But-"

"If you can't see the difference between yourself and those guys you're an idiot. We wouldn't be brothers if you were. You're the one who helped me escape that life. You and your family took me in when no one else would." Rollan can see from the look on Conor's face that he's finally getting somewhere and keeps going. "Sure you made a few mistakes, we all have. We're human. You need to forgive yourself."

Conor looks at his brother and feels like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders. For the first time since he had joined the Conquerors he felt happy. The closest he had felt to this true happiness was when he had been with Abeke, _Abeke!_

"I have to go find Abeke, apologize." Conor tells Rollan quickly and Rollan grins and laughs.

"Then go. I have Meilin's number, I'll tell her to get Abeke to come meet up with you."

Conor raises an eyebrow at him as he does just that, "Meilin's number?"

Rollan smirks at him, "What can I say? Chicks dig me." Conor laughs and playfully shoves him away.

Spiritanimalsspiritanimalsspiritanimals

Meilin is sitting on her bed with her black-and-white hamster, Jhi, when her phone buzzes. She feels guilty for the smile that lights up her face at the thought of Rollan, considering what had happened with Abeke and Conor. She grabs her phone and grins when she sees that it was, in fact, Rollan.

Rollan: **Hey cutie, tell Abeke I found Conor and set him straight. He wants to apologize. In all seriousness though, I really think he's okay. I think he's finally forgiven himself.**

Meilin rolls her eyes at the nickname as she continues to read the rest of the message. She immediately jumps up from her bed, gently putting Jhi in her jacket pocket, and rushes towards the front door of the apartment. "Dad, I'm going over to Abeke's," She calls and when she finally hears him shout approval she bounds out the door and down the hall. She excitedly knocks on the door, and doesn't stop until someone opens the door.

"What?!" Soama says, irritated, as she opens the door. Meilin throws her a rushed hello as she races past her to find her friend.

Abeke forces a smile to her face at the sight of Meilin. She can't help thinking about Conor. Before she can say anything Meilin is grabbing her and tugging her towards the door. "We have to go. Rollan found Conor and he wants to talk to you. Rollan said he believes what you said now, that he forgives himself."

Abeke's smile transforms from stiff to overjoyed and she no longer fights Meilin's dragging. She puts her shoes on and skips to the door. It takes a bit of convincing for her father to let them out since it had gotten late but they promised to be back before 8:30 and he grudgingly agreed. They quickly checked in with Meilin's dad before heading back into town.

Meilin laughs at Abeke as they stand, waiting for Conor. Abeke's pacing back and forth, impatiently checking both directions every few seconds to see if Conor had arrived yet. When Jhi squeaks she reaches into her pocket, she had almost forgotten she had brought her. "Quit pacing," She tells Abeke as she grabs Abeke and pulls her to the side to stand beside her. Jhi squeaks again and crawls towards Abeke so Meilin puts her hamster in her hands.

Abeke absentmindedly pets the soft animal and starts to relax. "Thanks for coming with me," She tells Meilin and Meilin just nods.

"What are best friends for?"

They both straighten when they see two shadows in the distance heading towards them. "Finally," Meilin complains good-naturedly, however both girls stiffen when two more shadows join and the group starts running towards them. "What the heck?" Meilin says, confused, and the fear in Abeke's eyes mirrors hers.

"Run," Abeke tells her, as this reminds her of the time the two guys had cornered her and knows not to question her gut feeling this time. She grabs Meilin's hand, who had already tucked Jhi back into the safety of her jacket pocket, and they run together, hoping that they can somehow escape the ones chasing them.

* * *

**A/N: dun dun duuuuuun. What's going to happen? Let me know what you think, plus reviews make me update faster ;) Thanks for the suggestions about Jhi, I wrote a bit with each in mind and the hamster worked out best with the plot. Hope you enjoyed.**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

**A/N: Ugh, wrote this entire chapter but I hadn't saved it and my computer crashed. :/ that sucked, but I finished it again :) Hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading, reviewing, and following.**

The wind whistled in Abeke's ears as they raced away from the guys chasing her and Meilin. Her heart pounded in rhythm with her feet hitting the pavement. Her legs burned and her breathing was getting harder, but she knew she couldn't stop. The boy's words from before echo in her mind. _You better watch your back, next time we see you we won't have mercy. No one insults the Conquerors and gets away with it_. She pushes the thought out of her mind, focusing only on getting away.

She turns her head to make sure Meilin's still right behind her and her foot catches on something, sending her to the ground. Meilin stops to pull her up, but by the time Abeke's back on her feet the group had surrounded them. Abeke and Meilin quickly got back-to-back as they defend themselves from the attackers. Meilin easily fights them off, since she had taken hand-to-hand combat and karate lessons in the past, but they have a numbers advantage. Abeke is determined to beat them and escape, but they manage to overwhelm her and knock her to the ground, unconscious.

Meilin ignores the paralyzing fear coursing through her body and focuses only on hitting and dodging, but it isn't enough. The four gang members close in and a girl steps up to Meilin from behind. Before Meilin can do anything she quickly punches her in the face, and Meilin's vision fades as she falls to the ground.

"She's the one we want," One says, pointing at the dark-skinned girl and the others grab her and carry her off into the night.

Spiritanimalsspiritanimalsspiritanimals

Conor fights the urge to run through town to the meeting place that Rollan had set up with Meilin. Conor had originally planned to head straight there and wait for Abeke, but Rollan persuaded him to go home first. He had told him that Abeke had already gone home and would have to come all the way back into town, and that could take up to an hour in which Conor would be standing there doing nothing. Conor had grudgingly agreed and gone home where Rollan cleaned and bandaged his arm to make sure it didn't start bleeding again.

Conor frowned when he finally got to the meeting place and saw no sign of Abeke. He had been gone for a while, she should be here by now. He looked up and down the street and froze when he saw what looked like a body lying on the street.

He immediately started sprinting towards it, fear choking him at the thought of what he might find.

"Abeke?" He called out, hoping for some sort of response. But when he finally reached the girl he saw it was not Abeke. "Meilin?" He quickly kneeled beside her and was trembling as he watched to make sure she was still breathing. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw that she was still alive. He quickly looked around, hoping that he had somehow overlooked Abeke. When he saw this wasn't the case, fear gripped him. It wouldn't be good to find her here, unconscious and beat up, but it was better than not finding her at all. He was certain that she had come with Meilin.

He ignored those thoughts and focused back on the injured girl in front of him. There was already a bruise forming on her jaw, explaining why she was unconscious. Her knuckles were bloody and her breathing was ragged, he shuddered when he thought of the possibility of wounds that he couldn't see.

After looking over her he quickly pulled out his cell phone. Conor dialed 911 and explained what he thought had happened. They told him an ambulance was on its way along with the police and he hung up.

He didn't know what he would say, but he had to tell Rollan what had happened, so he called Rollan next.

"Hey. What's up? How's Abeke?" Rollan teases and Conor closes his eyes, wishing that he didn't have to do this.

"Rollan I-"

"What's wrong?"

"I got here and, Rollan I found Meilin unconscious. As far as I know she's okay, just a couple of bruises. Abeke's not here and I don't know where she is- I don't-" Conor stops when his voice breaks and Rollan stays silent.

"Where are you guys?" Rollan asks frantically.

"I'm still with Meilin. I already called the police, an ambulance is on its way." Conor tells him and as he finishes he sees flashing lights in the distance. "They're here, I have to go. I'll call you when they tell me which hospital they're going to." Conor hates to hang up on Rollan like this, but he knows he has to.

They quickly say goodbye and Conor turns to the emergency vehicles pulling up. Medics quickly rushed out and examined Meilin as Conor explained how he had found her and what he thought had happened. They had already started to put Meilin into the ambulance when the police pulled up. He quickly explained once again and told them that Abeke had been with her. Two immediately went to check the area and start a search.

He asks to help them but they brush him off, telling him that it's their job, and he knows they're right but he can't fight the anger that pulses through him. He knew it was the Conquerors, it had to be. He didn't know why or how they even found Abeke, but he would figure it out and he would save her, Conor promised himself.

Knowing there was nothing else he could do Conor took the offer to go to the hospital in the ambulance with Meilin. He quickly sent Rollan a text with the name of the hospital so he could meet them.

"Do you know her?" One of the medics asked and he didn't know how to reply.

"I just met her today, he name's Meilin." He told them. He almost couldn't believe that it had only been one day, so much had happened.

"So you wouldn't be able to get in touch with her parents?" Conor shook his head. They reached in her pockets, looking for her phone. Conor jumped when a squeak came from her jacket pocket. They all stared as a hamster poked it's head out. Conor stepped forward and picked it up, he also grabbed the phone that had been under the animal.

Unable to call Meilin's parents, he handed the phone to one of the medics, who proceeded to check her contacts and call her father. **(A/N: I don't know how they contact families but it made sense that they would check their phones so I put that, sorry if it's wrong)**

They start to put her phone down when Conor asks if he can have it, he wants to see if she has Abeke's dad in her contacts.

He takes in a shaky breath when he sees Abeke's Dad as a contact. He hits the button and puts the phone up to his ear.

"Hello?" A man's voice answers.

"Is this Abeke's father?" Conor asks.

"Yes, who is this?" Abeke's father questions, confused as to why a boy is calling him from Meilin's phone.

"Did Abeke leave with Meilin to go into town?" Conor has to make sure that she was actually with Meilin before telling him this.

"Yes she did, did something happen?"

The smallest hope Conor had had shattered at those words. "I'm a friend of Abeke's and was going to meet up with them. I found Me-Meilin beaten up and unconscious and Abeke was nowhere to be found." Conor forces himself to ignore the heartbroken gasp and continue, "I called the police and they're already searching for her, I'm with Meilin, we're in an ambulance heading to the hospital. The medics already called her father."

"Did the police find anything?" He asks desperately.

"I don't know," Conor responds. "They had just started looking when I left in the ambulance."

"I'm going to call the police station, see if they can tell me anything else," The man pauses before continuing, "Thank you for what you did." Before Conor could respond the man hung up and Conor put the phone in his pocket to give to Meilin's father when he got to the hospital.

"Conor?" A raspy voice asks and Conor turns to see Meilin looking at him.

"It's okay, we're on our way to the hospital." Conor tells her, trying to keep himself from asking a million questions about what happened.

"Where's Abeke? We were going to meet you." Meilin breaks off before realization spreads across her face. "They attacked us, they chased us and fought us. Where's Abeke?" Meilin's voice had risen when no one told her where Abeke was and the medics told her to calm down, to avoid injuring herself further. As they finally reached the hospital, Conor couldn't help repeating the question she had said over and over again. _Where's Abeke? Where's Abeke? Where's Abeke?_


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

**A/N: Phew I'm finally back, sorry it's been so long guys. A virus found its way onto my computer and would crash it every time I opened the Internet, so that made things tough… Plus the fact that all of the stuff I write is saved on this computer. But I finally got it fixed! Thanks for your patience, you guys are awesome, hope you enjoy this chapter**

**Yeah… This story got darker than I had ever planned when first jotting down notes for a plot, but I think this makes the end more meaningful, instead of just fluff and a little argument. Sorry if anyone was upset by it. I'm pretty sure it's all uphill from here, and I hope you think it was worth it. As always thank you for all of the kind reviews, and I love seeing people favoriting and following. It makes my day.**

Conor watched from the side as they wheeled Meilin into the hospital to get her checked out. He ran his hands through his blond hair, fighting the worry and panic raging inside him. He walked in slowly and collapsed in one of the lobby's waiting chairs.

He glanced up when he heard the door slam open and a tall man quickly rushed in, heading towards the front desk. Conor listened as the man asked about Meilin. He must be Meilin's father.

The man and the receptionist talked quietly for a minute before the man nodded and turned around, striding across the waiting room and sitting down in the chair next to him. Conor looked at him as he wiped a hand across his face and slumped over, resting his elbows on his knees. He looked utterly defeated.

Conor turned towards him. "Are you Meilin's father?" He asked and the man looked up at him with a look of confusion as he tried to figure out who Conor was. "I'm the boy who found her, my name's Conor, sir." Conor explained, offering his hand for a handshake.

Something flashed in Meilin's fathers eyes as he gripped Conor's hand, then pulled him into a hug. Conor was surprised at first but quickly hugged the man back.

"Thank you," the man whispered and Conor nodded as he pulled back.

"Do you know how she is?" Conor asked, the doctors hadn't told him anything.

"They're checking her out for head trauma right now. She has a couple of bruised ribs but she'll be okay." Conor sighed with relief at his last three words. "They say she's a fighter."

"She is a fighter, sir," Conor reassured him and the man gave Conor a weak smile.

Conor's head jerked back towards the door when he heard it open again. It was Rollan.

Conor stood up and Rollan rushed over as soon as he saw him. "She's going to be okay," he told him and Rollan immediately relaxed a little.

"Thank God, I was so worried. I drove here as fast as I could, I'm surprised the cops didn't pull me over." Rollan said with a forced laugh.

Conor saw Meilin's father looking at them and led Rollan over to him. "Sir, this is Rollan a friend of mine. Rollan this is Meilin's father, Mr…" Conor trailed off as he didn't know what to call him.

"Teng," Meilin's father filled in.

"Well, this isn't how I imagined meeting Meilin's father," Rollan muttered to himself before greeting the man. "It's nice to meet you Mr. Teng. I'm one of Meilin's friends I guess, we only met this morning."

Mr. Teng's reply was interrupted by a squeak from Conor's pocket. "Oh, Jhi. I forgot I had you in there," Conor said as he took the black-and-white hamster out of his jacket pocket.

"Jhi? May I?" Mr. Teng asked, holding out his hands and Conor immediately agreed, reaching out and passing Jhi to him.

The furry mammal inched forward, curious, and sniffed the man before squeaking her approval and nuzzling into his hands. Conor and Rollan respectfully looked away, not acknowledging the tears welling up in Meilin's father's eyes as he watched the already half-asleep hamster curl up in his hands.

"She'll be okay, sir." Conor told him once again but this time the man smiled a little as he nodded his head in agreement.

**(A/N: I have no clue what General Teng's first name is so… if any of you know it feel free to let me know and I'll edit this conversation. Did the writers even give him a first name? Eh, no clue XD)**

"Teng?" Conor jumped in surprise as a new voice boomed over to them. Rollan released a small breathless laugh at Conor's response and the blonde smacked him before looking towards the second man.

He had dark skin and short black hair. He strided over to them, greeting Mr. Teng like an old friend. Who was he?

"Meilin?" The man asked quietly.

"She's going to be fine, what about Abeke? They told me the girl who was with Meilin disappeared, it had to be her."

So was this man Abeke's father? It would make sense. Conor was shaken out of his thoughts as the man started to talk again. "I just came here from the police station. They're doing all they can and have a lot pieced together thanks to the witness but right now it's just a waiting game. So I came here to see how you and Meilin were holding up. I just- I just couldn't stay there any longer knowing that there was nothing I could do."

So he was Abeke's father, Conor thought as the man turned his gaze towards Rollan and himself. "Teng, you know these boys?"

"Oh, forgive me. This is Conor and Rollan," Teng introduced, gesturing towards each of the boys in turn. "Conor was the witness that found Meilin and Rollan is a friend of his."

"Pojalo," the man responded as he shook their hands. "Are you the boy who called me?"

Conor couldn't believe that he had almost forgotten the shaky call and explanation he had made an half an hour earlier. He nodded his head in answer to the question and received yet another thanks. All the gratitude was starting to make him feel uncomfortable, he had only done what hopefully anyone else would have if they found someone beaten up on the side of the road. He hadn't even been there in time to save them, if only he'd been just the tiniest bit quicker.

Rollan glanced at his best friend, recognizing the guilt-ridden expression. They had been friends for so long, then brothers, it was easy to tell what the blond was thinking. "We finally made a breakthrough today about the whole blaming yourself thing, don't start again," He told Conor quietly so the other men couldn't hear. Conor looked up at him and the guilt vanished, replaced by fear.

"What do you think they're doing to her?" He asked. Rollan had been trying not to think about it, he could easily come up with plenty of things. Living on the street wasn't easy, and the older people in the gang took out their anger on the 'privileged', whether they deserved it or not. Rollan was just glad he had met Conor and found a way out of that life.

All he knew was that right now he had to help Conor get through this. "Look she'll be fine, they don't usually rough 'em up too bad and the police are already looking for her." Rollan reassured him and was relieved when Conor gave him a weak smile. Rollan just had to help keep his mind off everything that was happening until Abeke was found.

* * *

Abeke groggily came to. _Why does my head hurt so much?_ She wondered to herself as she slowly opened her eyes, expecting to be blinded but instead finding that it was almost as dark around her as it was when her eyes were closed. Her jaw and lip buzzed with pain and she raised her hand to her face, feeling the swollen and bleeding skin of her lip. She shut her eyes again as she started to remember what had happen.

There were people chasing her, they had attacked her and she couldn't get away. No, they had attacked both her and Meilin. Meilin!

"Meilin?" Abeke called out, her voice raspy and weak as it echoed away from her. "Are you here?" Hearing no response she forced herself to look around and try to figure out where she was, ignoring how fast her heart was beating and the paralyzing fear of the situation she was in. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness she saw that she was in some sort of big building, a warehouse? She couldn't see anyone but that didn't mean they weren't here. They could be hiding in the darkness with the black clothing they wore, waiting to hurt her again.

_Stop it! I will get out of here and I won't let them hurt me again_. Abeke fought with her fear, trying to ignore the tiny voice in the back of her head reminding her that they could easily hurt her again and she wouldn't be able to do anything about it. _I'll give them hell_. She grit her teeth as she strengthened her resolve, they might be able to injure her but she would fight them until the end.

With the self-assurance she had given herself Abeke tried to rise, finding her arms bound to a pole behind her with rope that had been tied around her wrists. She immediately tugged away, testing the sturdiness of the knots. To her dismay, they held tight. _I have to get out of here_, she thought as she resigned herself to working at the rope with her teeth. She would get out of here. She would find Meilin, and they would escape together.

"Leaving so soon?" A voice boomed through the darkness before a beam of light shined into Abeke's face. Abeke stilled, lowering her hands from her mouth as she squinted, trying to see who the flashlight hid from her view, not able to see past the blinding light.

"Who are you? Let me go!" She yelled, focusing on the anger boiling in her blood at what they had done to her rather than let herself get sucked into the fear again.

A dark chuckle sounded as the tall man took another step towards her. "I am the Reptile King."

**A/N: So sorry again for the long wait. I just finished exams so I have a bunch of time to write. I felt terrible for making you guys wait this long, it won't happen again. Hope you liked the chapter.**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews, they make my day.**

**TheTombedSpirit: In my mind I have the characters around the age of 16/17 so they're definitely older than in the books but they're still at the age where they have to go to school. Hope this helps clear it up, thanks for the review. Also, you'll have to wait and see, though I can't imagine a spirit animals fic without the four fallen helping in some way ;)**

**I'm getting books 5, 6, and 7 sometime this week! So pumped to finally be able to read the rest of this amazing series.**

"What do you want from me?" Abeke asked, forcing herself to keep a straight face as she stared up at the man watching her from the shadows.

He just ignored her, walking towards her before striding past. Abeke strained her neck as she tried to keep him in her line of sight, but the metal pole she was bound to by the rope around her wrists prevented her from turning completely around. The man disappeared somewhere behind her, the only thing giving her some clue as to where he was were the faint beams of light coming from his flashlight.

"Where's Meilin?" Abeke tried again. She was stuck here until she could figure out a way to escape, she figured she might as well try and figure out where Meilin was.

There was only silence until another deep chuckle resonated throughout the building. "Wouldn't you like to know."

Abeke growled in frustration. He was playing with her and she had no choice but to play along, she didn't know what these people were capable of. They had already successfully beaten and kidnapped her and Meilin. Plus almost a week ago when they had tried to mug her. It was hard to believe that just a few days ago she hadn't had any idea about the gangs that roamed the city streets, let alone thought they would attack her.

"Why me! Why am I here?" Abeke called out into the darkness.

Abeke fought a triumphant grin when her words seemed to have an effect, as the man stepped back out in front of her and snarled at her. "Foolish girl, as if you don't know. You thought yourself clever enough to insult the toughest gang to walk these streets, figure it out."

Abeke listened to his words carefully, picking out her answer from his words. "You did all this just because I called you cowards?" She asked in disbelief. The man just glared at her. Her next words flew out of her mouth before she could stop them. "Truth hurts doesn't it?"

A stinging sensation started from her jaw and started spreading through her face as Abeke's head snapped to the side. The so-called Reptile King had sprung up to her and smacked her in the face. Abeke spit out blood from where she had accidentally bitten her cheek in the whiplash. "You'll learn what happens to those that cross us." He growled before raising his fist again.

* * *

Conor looked up as a nurse started walking briskly across the room towards their group. Rollan and the two adults followed his gaze and they all feel silent as they waited for her to reach them.

"You're Meilin's father, yes?" She asked as she finally approached them. Mr. Teng just nodded, listening carefully for her next few words. "We think she has a concussion, along with the bruised ribs we told you about earlier. Other than a few more cuts and bruises, she's doing fine. We want to keep her overnight to monitor her and make sure there's no serious repercussions from her head injury, but we expect her to make a full recovery." There was a collective sigh of relief as this news soaked in, though Abeke's father's hands remained clenched in fists at his side.

The nurse smiled at all of them before returning her gaze to Meilin's father. "If you would like to come see her, along with one other visitor. She's asleep right now, but we don't want to overwhelm her when she wakes up." Mr. Teng nodded before turning to look at Pojalo.

The man in question returned his gaze but shook his head slightly. "You go, be with your daughter. I'm going to see if there's anything else I can do to find mine." Teng nodded and looked at the teenage boys.

"One of you is welcome to come along," He told them.

Rollan just looked at Conor and the blond immediately shoved him forwards. "Go on, I'll be out here." Conor told him and Rollan shot him a grateful smile before following the nurse and Meilin's father deeper into the hospital.

Pojalo and Conor sunk back into the lobby chairs and Conor did nothing to break the awkward silence that fell upon them. What do you say to a man whose daughter's missing?

Conor was saved from trying to attempt conversation as Pojalo pulled out his cell phone. "I'm going to try the police station again, see if they've made any progress." He announced gruffly before dialing the number. Conor just watched, hoping that they received good news. _Abeke had to be okay_.

* * *

Olvan sighed and rubbed his face with his left hand as he hung up the phone with his right. He then proceeded to collapse into a chair, staring at the picture that hung on the board. The girl's name was Abeke Okaihee, African American with brown eyes and long braided hair. She was only _16._ That was the worst part. It was all Olvan could to do to prevent himself from imagining his own daughter in the same predicament, Lyra was only a couple years older than this girl.

"Captain?" His partner, Lenori, broke him from his thoughts. "Who was on the phone?"

"It was her father again," he told her, not needing to elaborate. She understood, pretty much the entire department understood, what it felt like having to tell people that they hadn't found their loved ones yet, or that they hadn't caught the person who'd shot their friend. It was all one of the hardest parts of their job.

"Report," he told her, getting back to business. The most important time after a kidnapping was the first 24 hours, and they _had_ to find her. There was no other option.

"We have a dog out there trying to track her scent, but it'll be hard for them to pinpoint with all the other city smells. We have people on foot, checking abandoned buildings, anywhere they could hide a person, but there's just too many hiding places." Lenori told him. He had known most of this, but he had needed to hear it again. To be sure that they were doing all they could. And yet, even with most of their resources dedicated to this case, determined to keep this girl from becoming another victim, there was nothing more they could do except wait as officers searched the city, if she was still in the city.

Olvan stared at the picture of the young smiling girl again. _Where are you?_

* * *

Rollan sat on one side of Meilin's bed while her father sat on the other, each holding one of her hands. It had been at least two hours since Rollan had arrived at the hospital. Longer for Meilin's father. They had only been with Meilin for maybe half of that time. Rollan looked back at her face. She had a black eye and he could see the bump on her head that must have caused the concussion the doctors had talked about. He could only guess at what the injuries underneath the sheet looked like, but he had seen enough people beaten when he was younger, still living on the streets, to know what they probably looked like.

A shiver traveled down his spine as he once again thanked his parents, his adoptive parents, for saving him from that life, for accepting him with open arms and loving hearts despite the fact that they were just barely scraping by without another mouth to feed.

Rollan looked across at Teng's face as the man's stomach growled. "You should go eat something, sir."

He just shook his head in reply, eyes never straying from his daughter's face. Rollan understood wanting to take care of your loved ones, but he also knew hunger and how you could waste away. "Go, I'll watch her, she'll be fine."

Teng glanced at Rollan and sighed, shutting his tired eyes for a moment. "You're right, I'll go." The man reluctantly took his hand back from his daughters and started heading towards the door when there was a stir from the bed.

"Bet you don't hear that very often, huh Rollan?" A weak voice teased as Meilin slowly opened her eyes. Both Rollan and Teng immediately straightened as they quickly turned to face her. Rollan laughed softly as he brushed his thumb across her hand.

"I was so worried about you," Rollan whispered. She sent him a small reassuring smile before turning her head to look at her father, wincing when she moved her head too quickly.

"Be careful my little warrior," her father gently reprimanded as he grabbed her hand once again, all thoughts of food forgotten. When the pain faded back into a dull throbbing Meilin focused on him again, smiling fondly at the nickname he had given her years ago.

"What happened?" She asked, her memories a bit fuzzy. She remembered fighting those thugs but then…

Her father answered first. "A boy, Conor, found you. You have a couple bruised ribs and a concussion, but you should be okay." Meilin nodded, that explained why her head hurt so much. Rollan looked over at Teng as he noticed what he had skipped over. Meilin noticed too.

"What about Abeke? How is she? Can I see her?" She asked quickly, assuming her friend was also in the hospital. She smirked inwardly as she realized that was probably where Conor was. Confusion flooded her, however, when both her father and Rollan's expressions fell.

"Meilin…" Rollan started, not knowing how to finish. He looked at Meilin, her eyes blazing as she stared forcefully at him, demanding an answer. "Abeke's gone. They kidnapped her."


End file.
